Saturday, 4 March 2017

At the end of February my role on the TW:eed Project came
to an end, with the last of the NERC grant funding. I’ll be continuing on in my
spare time to finish writing up papers from the project, as will most of the
team. In fact it will be hard to keep us away! This project has been brilliant
and the most fascinating I have ever worked on, it’s a sad moment to say
goodbye.

At the beginning of February we held our final team meeting
at Cambridge. As always it was fascinating, invigorating and challenging all at
once! Research discussed included the latest palynology results from John and
Emma, with statistical analysis of the data that is showing some fascinating
trends over time. Future efforts by the team will seek to compare the spores
found with the macroplant fossils, aiming to track the exact species that
produced some of the most common spores, this is not an easy task! Then Tom
talked about his latest discoveries working on the lungfish material. Jenny and
Tim discussed their latest findings on the tetrapods from our main field site,
with new material being discovered in the last few months. I discussed the
sedimentological context of tetrapod finds from our study and the broader
context. Finally we talked through future plans for a public meeting/symposium
and new research project proposals.

The
team of the steps of the Attenborough Building, University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge

As a team
we have produced so much over the last four years! In total, we have produced
11 published papers, 2 papers in press and 5 that are submitted; 70 published
conference abstracts, 64 informal talks, 8 exhibitions, 7 field excursions and
workshops; 6 Masters’ theses, 5 undergraduate projects and 32 volunteers at 6th
Form and undergraduate levels; 5 informal publications, and numerous social and
other media outputs. Wow! A list of our publications can be seen on the tetrapods.org website.

This
project has discovered such a huge amount! So much so, that we are still
writing up some of our most important findings… we have around 20 papers that
are in preparation that the team are working on and hope to publish this year. We
really have succeeded with the ‘Team TW:eed’ approach, working well together
and learning from each other over the years. I’m glad that I will always have
my mug to remind me of this fantastic team!

I want to
say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported our project and been
involved in research, volunteering, scientific support, educational events and
in sharing our work with their friends, family and colleagues. We hope you’ve enjoyed
hearing about our discoveries and celebrating Britain’s fossil heritage. Although
it’s officially the end…. it’s not the end end…. just try stopping us! I’ll
keep updating everyone on the blog with news about our progress and
publications throughout 2017.